Further
by Cayster
Summary: A complicated story of two people, Lucas and Peyton, who fall for each other while they are committed to a relationship with another, Brooke and Jake. Will they break through the unforgivable barrier which keeps them apart from each other?
1. Default Chapter

"Further" 1/-

A complicated story of two people, Lucas and Peyton, who fall for each other while they are committed to a relationship with another, Brooke and Jake. Will they break through the unforgivable barrier which keeps them apart from each other or will they remain faithful to those who love them?

'Further' was inspired by Long-view's "Further."

The story will switch points of views between Lucas and Peyton either every other chapter or a sporadic way. It depends on whoever I feel like writing from their stand point really.

Chapter One: Eyes closed tight

Chapter Note: Chapter title was inspired by Mae's "Skyline Drive," check it out.

The warm summer breeze softly wound its soothing way through the open, curtained window of Lucas Scott's bedroom. Summer was soon coming to a close, but that thought didn't even linger on the sleeping angelic-like blonde's mind. A secret and very vulnerable dream was playing itself out as he slept, wishing it was real life instead of a fairy tale in the depth of his soul.

Lucas was dreaming about a broody, curly blonde anonymous artist. She was very much like him in ways, but also very different, too. She, unlike him, always pushed people away to protect her ever guarded heart and would go to many lengths to make sure of that. But in this dream, he had finally broken through the wall and had seen her as she truly was, a fallen angel. Peyton was so beautiful, but she felt alone because of traumatic and hurtful events from her past. Lucas though, at last, found his way into her heart and she let him stay there because of their hidden love.

She looked up at him with tears in her eyes looking so vulnerable yet determined at the same time. Peyton cleared her throat, "Ah, Luke?"

Lucas stepped towards her until their lips were only inches away from each other. "Yeah?" He asked curiously, his heart racing. Luke never felt this way before, as if he were complete and nothing else in the world mattered, but Peyton.

"I-I can't begin to explain what I'm feeling right now," she said shakily.

Her sweet scent invaded his senses, but he kept his concentration. "Me neither."

Slowly they both leaned towards each other until their lips finally brushed against the other's. Her vanilla scent was intoxicating enough, but now, Lucas was so enthralled by her and the kiss. This kiss exposed them to so many things, but together they would be able to defeat them.

Peyton leisurely broke the kiss and smiled softly. "Luke," she said as her hazel eyes gazed up into his, "I love--"

Knock. Knock.

"Ugh," Lucas said groggily, secretly cursing about be awoken from the best dream he had had in a long time.

"Lucas," his mother, Karen, said defiantly standing in his doorframe. "Wake up sleepy-head, I need you to work a shift for me at the café 'cause Haley called in 'sick.'"

"I bet she's usick/u alright," Lucas said getting up in an irritated fashion from his bed.

Karen laughed, "So will you or won't you?"

Lucas scratched the back of his head as he walked into his bathroom, "Do I really have a choice?"

"No, not really," Karen called back with an amused look on her face as she walked back into the kitchen.

"That's what I thought," whispered Lucas as he turned the knob of the shower on hot and the water began to run.

Fifteen minutes later, Lucas was out of the shower, dressed, and ready. He was walking into the kitchen to get a quick bite to eat when he heard his mom talking to someone else. Lucas walked further down the hall and rounded the corner to find his girlfriend, Brooke Davis, enjoying a small breakfast with his mom.

She turned around laughing as she saw his mom's gaze suddenly look over at him. "Hey there, boyfriend!"

Lucas pushed the lingering dream out of his mind and plastered a smile on his face. "Hi there, Brooke."

Brooke rose with a happy smile on her face and walked over to Lucas and gave him a quick kiss as Karen was bent over washing the morning dishes over at the sink.

When they broke from the kiss, Brooke looked up at Lucas mischievously. "We'll have to do some more that tonight at my place."

Lucas laughed, "Don't you just wanna chill tonight? You know, we have been doing this sort of thing a lot lately." He tried to keep the topic as brief and as general as possible seeing as his mom was in the room.

Brooke looked a little hurt by his proposition, but got over it easily. "Sure, what do you have in mind?"

Hearing her say this, Luke was relieved because even though he was attracted to Brooke and that he really did like her, but she wasn't Peyton. "Ugh, we could just hang around the town or something."

"Oh, wait! I told Peyton that we would come to Tric for her and Jake's six month celebration bash," Brooke said excitedly. "Isn't it great that they've stayed together that long? I can't wait till we get to celebrate for ours." Then she looked up at him seductively, "But we'll have to have our own little celebration of our own after it."

Lucas looked down at her and laughed, "You have more hormones than me!"

Brooke laughed, "I know, right?"

Karen turned around from the sink and leaned against it, "Sorry to break up this love fest, but Lucas here needs to get over to the café before it opens."

Lucas silently thanked his mom for interrupting, "Ah, yeah! I better head over there before any of the early customers do."

"Well, I guess I better get going since I'm helping out with the final preparations for the party tonight." Brooke said eagerly; he knew she loved decorating. "Pick me up around 8 o'clock tonight so we can get there early and tell everyone what to do." Then she gave Luke a quick peck and left.

As the kitchen door closed, Lucas let out a breath that he had been holding subconsciously. A lot of energy seemed to be taken from him from the whole ordeal. He hated how he was using Brooke the way he was, as some sort of comfort zone. Six months ago, when he had found out that Peyton and Jake were going out officially he needed solidarity and a couple of months later, Brooke confessed that she liked him. When he says "confessed" he means she cornered him in the Boys' locker room after Basketball practice in nothing but her black bra and panties. Since Lucas was lonely and hurting, he took up her enticing offer and became her boyfriend.

It pained him even more thinking about it, about he and Brooke together. But it hurt him even more when he thought of Peyton and Jake together happy in their own little world. They were like a family now playing house, Jake the dad, Peyton the mom, and Jennie the daughter. It made him sick to his stomach and angry to just think about it.

"Luke?" His mom asked.

"Huh?" Lucas asked breaking his train of thought.

"Are you all right? You were just spacing out there for a minute."

Lucas nodded, "Oh, I'm fine. I was only thinking."

Karen smiled softly, "Well not to be a pain or anything, but get a move on!"

Lucas laughed and grabbed the keys off the kitchen counter and left for the café.

Eight o'clock rolled by and Lucas walked up to Brooke's house and rang the doorbell.

"Coming!" She called just as her heard footsteps hammering towards the door.

The red door swung open a minute revealing Brooke. "Hey there, sexy boy!" She greeted him happily as she hugged him after closing the door behind her. "Can you wait? This is going to be so fun!"

"Yeah, fun." Lucas said out loud accidentally.

Brooke looked up at him in surprise, "Well, I know it's not what we were initially planning on, but let's not be a party-pooper."

Lucas laughed, "I know, I'll have a blast when I get there, I bet."

"That's more like it!" Brooke said as she pecked him quickly, "Now let's head on over to the club before they get there."

They finally got there ten minutes later and the drive over there was a very tense one for Lucas. He knew that he was going to have a horrible time and wallow in his own pity, too. But all in all, he knew that he would have to fake it because he didn't want Brooke or anyone else to be suspicious of his secret heartache.

As Brooke opened the door to the club, Lucas' breath was taken away by the decorations. "Wow!"

"Yeah, I know. Isn't it awesome?" Brooke said giddily quickly walking over to the DJ area and pulled out two presents. "Here, this is the gift you bought them two weeks ago. Give it to them later on, okay?"

Lucas nodded, "Okay." He had gotten them a scrapbook with pictures of them together and separate in there. It ripped him apart when he was putting it together, but nonetheless, he made it.

The door opened behind them and people from Tree Hill High started filing into Tric. They all deposited their gifts to the two at a table near the back and then mingled with one another until Brooke announced that the couple would be arriving in five minutes. After she made the announcement, everyone seemed to get excited knowing the party was about to take off finally.

Lucas wound his way through the crowd near a secluded corner and plopped himself on a couch with a huff. He rubbed his temples trying to ease his oncoming migraine before it hit, but his efforts were futile because the migraine came on stronger than ever. He closed his eyes trying to relax himself and used some deep breathing exercises.

"Hey!" Mouth said plopping down beside Lucas.

"Hi," Luke said tiredly which pinching the arch of his nose.

Mouth seemed to sense the uneasiness with the disgruntled Luke. "Ah, Luke, are you okay, man?"

Lucas nodded and looked over at Mouth, "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Right," Mouth said flatly, but Lucas gave no attempt in swaying his thoughts, "So, isn't it great that Peyton and Jake are able to have such a long-lasting relationship?"

Lucas started to laugh causing Mouth to look at him strangely, "Yeah," he said sarcastically.

Obviously becoming uncomfortable, Mouth got up from his seat. "Well, I'll see you around, Luke."

Lucas just waved choppily to Mouth showing only his irritation even more. He laid his head back lazily against the wall and tried to space out, but just as he was about to escape into his thoughts, he heard his name being called.

"Lucas! Get over here; they're almost here." Brooke said jovially as she grabbed Luke's arm and pulled him to the front of crowd. "Stay here, hot stuff, I'll be right back."

Brooke walked to the center of the crowd of high schoolers. "Hello, may I have your attention quickly? Okay. Now Peyton and Jake are about here, so when they come through the door over there," she pointed toward the main entrance, "scream 'Happy sixth month anniversary!'"

"Why are we even celebrating this in the first place?" Someone shouted from the crowd.

Lucas couldn't help but think the same very thing, but probably for different reasons.

Brooke looked over in the general direction of the question. "First off, you probably are a loser so you wouldn't know! Second of all, you probably don't have a girl-friend so of course you don't have a clue to what's happening in the first place," many people in the crowd 'ooed' at that, "And lastly, ishut up/i If you think this is stupid, then leave, but to me, you'll be missing out on a great party." Brooke looked dangerously around at everyone else in the crowd, "Does anyone else have a question?" Many people literally shook their heads 'no,' which Brooke said a confident, "Good," to.

Soon everyone in the crowd were talking amongst themselves and Lucas saw this as an opportune moment as to slip over to the bar and sit over there. He sat down on the bar stool next to the wall and leaned his head against the cool wall. It seemed like a second later the entrance doors opened and everyone in the club shouted, "Happy sixth month anniversary," to a surprised Peyton and Jake. A pang shot to his heart when he saw Peyton laugh excitedly and kiss Jake before Brooke grabbed both of their hands and lead them around the club, showing them the cool decorations and everything else that had been put in here especially for them.

Lucas finally took his eyes off them and looked around to see a bartender serving some refreshments to others. "Bartender," Luke called over to the guy.

He leisurely walked over to Lucas with a small smile on his face, "What can I get you?"

Lucas thought for a moment, "Well, what are you serving?"

The Bartender seemed to see where this conversation was leading to. "Non-alcoholic beverages."

"Right," Lucas said in a defeated manner. "So I guess I'll have a coke, then."

The Bartender smiled, "Coming your way, then," and began to pour the soda into the glass cup. He slid the drink down to Lucas, "There you go!"

Lucas drank it as if he were trying to wash away his painful emotions and heartache. He put his head against the wall again and tried to escape from his surroundings. But no sooner than a minute later someone plopped themselves down in the seat next to him and began to talk to him.

"Usually people tend to sleep when it's quiet and in their bed at home."

Lucas knew that voice, after all, he had known the person since his childhood. Without opening his eyes to look at her he said, "Hey Hales."

Immediately he knew that she sensed something was bothering him. "What's wrong, Lucas?"

"You know me too well, Hales, but I'm not going to talk about it right now." Lucas said still having his eyes closed trying to ease himself.

He could sense that Haley was staring him down as if she were trying to solve what was bothering him with his body language. "Stop staring at me," Lucas said finally opening his eyes.

Haley quickly looked the other way, trying to hide that she was trying to read him. "I wasn't staring!"

"Right, and I'm the Queen of England," Lucas said sarcastically with a know-it-all smile.

"You're the Queen of England! When did you get the sex change and all of the plastic surgeries your Highness?" Haley said just as sarcastic as Lucas.

"Funny," Lucas said now looking around, "so was brought you to my lonesome corner of the party?"

"Well because it looked like you needed some company." Haley said seriously; concern was written all over her face.

Lucas was now getting irritated again, "Gosh! Will people just get off that subject already!"

"Luke, I was only worried about— "

"Well don't be! I don't need everybody coming up to me asking me if I'm okay because I iam/i okay!" Lucas berated, finally letting his frustration out. He began to calm down after a moment and felt really suffocated and curtly said, "I'm going to get some air."

Lucas quickly made his way through the crowd saying 'excuse me' rather ferociously each time he bumped into someone. A couple of minutes later as he tediously made his way to the back entrance, he opened the door roughly. The cool night's air hit him immediate and he felt relaxed for the first time since he was at the party.

The back entrance was a iron balcony with stairs leading from the staff parking lot which made the area unknown to all of the guests. He leaned against the railing and took deep breaths trying to calm himself down from all of the wild and intense emotions he was enduring all at once. Lucas looked up at the inky black sky and let out a breath of air that he had been holding.

"Hey there," someone said from behind him.

Lucas jumped slightly and placed his hand over his rapidly beating heart. He turned around to see the one person he was not wanting to make confrontation with, Peyton. All of the anxiety and tension he had lost a moment ago were now back and going full throttle. Lucas wanted more than anything for everything that was functioning on full speed to stop, but of course that effort was futile because he couldn't control his emotions around her. He couldn't help but love her.

Well, that's the end to chapter one and I hope that you all liked it! This one just came to me while I was listening to music and then I couldn't stop writing. This is definitely the longest chapter I've even written yet from any of my fanfics! But anyways, I hope you all liked the first chapter and believe me this is a Lucas and Peyton fanfic so just stay with me while I work with all of the obstacles and everything. If you feel like I portrayed any of the characters wrongly, please tell me and I'll try to change any of the quirks. Thanks for reading and I hope to hear what you think!

Oh and if you go back and look at the chapter title again and you understand the irony in the title, tell me and if you it right I will either make you a graphic of your choice or a fanfic of your choice! Well, you don't have to participate, only if you wanna. Thanks again for reading!


	2. Cause you can't jump the track

Thanks for the awesome and very flattering reviews, guys! I'm very thankful for them and I'm so happy that you all are sticking around and reading my new fic. I'm a very lucky writer! So I won't keep you all waiting and I'll get on with the story. Also, I'm glad to see that you all eager for the next chapter and lucky you, it's from Peyton's point of view.

Chapter Two: Cause you can't jump the track

Chapter Note: Title inspired by Anna Nalick's "Breathe."

Everyone's eyes bore onto her everywhere she went hearing a few 'congrats' and 'best wishes' every now and then. Why the hell did she let Brooke talk her into a six month anniversary bash anyway? It's not like she and Jake were engaged or getting married, they were merely having a long term relationship and nothing more. Jake Jagielski, her boyfriend and supposed savior. That's at least the crap that milled around Tree Hill High, that if it wasn't for him, she would be a crack whore living on the streets somewhere begging for money. But that wasn't the case at all. Yes, he had come back to Tree Hill and he did make her happy, but there was still something missing something that she couldn't put her finger on for a while. Then an unexpected revelation occurred, Lucas Scott, the one who had broken her heart, was what was missing. The funny thing is he's dating her best friend, Brooke, and she's now dating Jake. Even if they weren't with other people, nothing could ever happen between them because of what happened between them in the past. Case closed, no questions asked.

She needed air; Peyton couldn't handle her hypocrisy and the lie that she had been feeding herself for more than six months. It was suffocating her slowly and silently. She did love Jake, but not the way he thought she did or deserved to be. Of course she said the usual 'I love you' everyday and at first she meant it. Now though, it just became a little saying that didn't cause any passion to flare inside her heart, not even a flicker.

Peyton made her way through the crowd as inconspicuous as she could, trying to avoid her peers' glances. She finally reached the back entrance where no one would bother her for at least a couple of minutes. As soon as she opened the door, the cool night's air danced around her.

"Sanctuary," she whispered slowly to herself as she closed the door quietly behind her.

She walked over to the wooden bench that was hidden by the shadow of the entrance next to it. It would make a perfect hiding place for her to be alone for once and not have to worry about the constant conflict taking place inside her.

Peyton looked up at the inky black sky which contained many stars. Too bad wishing upon a star couldn't come true for her once; she always was deceived with what she was wishing for. Life isn't fair and she was the prime example of that. Nothing ever went her way no matter how much she wanted it to…

Silently a tear rolled down from her hazel eye and down her cheek. Tears started to blur her vision, but she quickly regained control of her emotions which were running wild. Why did she have to be so weak? Peyton wiped the fallen tears away carefully, trying not to mess up her mascara, with a napkin that she had been clenching tightly to ever since she had arrived at the party.

Suddenly the entrance door opened abruptly and somebody strode out to the railing. They were overlooking the parking lot and street while breathing very heavily. Almost immediately, Peyton could tell who the guy was by how he carried himself. It was none other than the very person who caused most of the conflict within her, Lucas.

Peyton cleared her throat softly and wiped away some more of the wetness that still lingered on her face, "Hey there."

Seeing as he jumped slightly, Peyton could tell that he must have thought he was alone. Maybe he wanted the same comfort she was seeking as soon as she got to the party. He slowly turned towards her with his hand over his heart subconsciously. Lucas' face was a shocked and frightened and that caused Peyton to laugh.

"I didn't know you were such a girl," Peyton teased while she tried to cover her laughter.

His face softened a little, "Ha. Ha."

This caused Peyton to laugh even harder, but she controlled herself a minute later. "Sorry, I didn't know you weren't expecting someone to be around."

Lucas roughly ran his hand through his jagged blonde hair. "Yeah, I didn't expect anyone to come out of the darkness and scare the living daylight out of me, if that's what you mean."

Peyton smiled broadly, but didn't say anything. Soon an uncomfortable silence fell between them causing both of them to squirm with awkwardness.

"So, ugh, what brings you out here?" Lucas asked leaning against the railing of the balcony. "After all, this is your party," he looked down at his feet, "well yours and Jake's party."

Peyton looked down at the napkin in her lap and bitterly said, "Yeah, well, let's just say I think everyone here is wasting a perfectly good night."

Lucas must have sensed her unpleasantness because he slowly moved towards her and kneeled down in front of her. Her breath was caught in the back of her throat and nervousness began take over. Electric chills were sent all over her body and it was hard for her to concentrate. Lucas didn't say anything for a minute, he only kneeled there as if studying her.

"What's wrong, Peyt?" He asked in a tone which was very alluring to her. She looked down into his soft blue eyes which slowly started to mesmerize her.

Peyton had to breathe deeply to be able to keep herself aware of her surroundings. "Nothing Luke."

Lucas laughed not wavered by her remark, "Peyton, I can tell that something's bothering you."

"Nothing's bothering me, Lucas, so drop it." She said more forcefully; Peyton didn't want him in, he couldn't break down her walls this time. She wouldn't let him like last time.

Even though he didn't pursue the situation any longer, his gaze still pierced through her to the point where it was painful for Peyton to have him only a few inches away from her…her lips. She got up abruptly and walked over to the railing where he was holding on to when he came out.

"You know what?" Peyton asked changing the subject and trying to get rid of the feelings that were burning at her heart. "It's nights like this that I could draw and draw for hours without becoming tired or overwhelmed with my anxieties, but just be content for once."

She heard Lucas get up, but he didn't move towards her. "I understand how you feel. It's like that for me when I'm shooting hoops in the middle of the night down at the River Court. I can just shoot and shoot and never get tired." He paused and began to move towards her and when he stood right next to her, he finished, "It's like everything else at that moment's just petty and worthless except for making that shot and hearing it fall through the net."

Peyton's breath was taken away. He knew exactly how she felt and no one else, not even Jake, knew what she was talking about. But Lucas did. She looked away from his hypnotizing gaze and back down at the parking lot. Then Peyton looked back up at him, "Luke, d'you--"

The back entrance door was flung open revealing Brooke. "There you are Peyton, everyone's been wondering where you were." She grabbed her best friend's wrist and started to pull her back into the club, "Jake's been looking everywhere for you, too. He said that he wants to give you something."

"What, a drink?" Peyton said sarcastically, but Brooke didn't seem to notice.

"No, silly, think expensive and romantic." Brooke excitedly squealed.

Peyton looked over her shoulder at the jagged blonde left standing on the balcony and smiled softly at him.

He just looked at her with an expression she couldn't decipher, but her attention was immediately grabbed when loud music again reached her ears. Brooke led her over to the opposite side of Tric where Jake was talking with Nathan near the bar. He turned around when Nathan must've told him that she was coming.

Jake's face illuminated and his soft brown eyes sparkled incessantly. "Hi, beautiful. I was wondering where you were hiding."

Peyton put on a fake smile, "I just needed some air because I was getting a little claustrophobic."

Concern started to enter his eyes, "Are you all right now? You do look a little flushed."

Peyton smiled and nodded, "Oh yeah, I'm great," she lied.

Jake nodded, "Okay." He looked down and reached into his pocket, "Well, I, ugh… I wanted to--"

"Whoa, hold up everyone!" Brooke shouted into a microphone, "Jake's got something to say to Peyton." She pointed to the corner they were standing in and it seemed like everyone's eyes were now boring onto the two.

Immediately the club was silenced and the music was turned off. The silence was broken only by a door closing near the back of the club.

Jake began to blush profusely, "Ugh, I wasn't expecting this much pressure to be added to the situation," he paused as he pulled the box out of his pocket. Peyton's eyes widened and her jaw dropped in shock. Jake seemed to like the reaction he was getting, "Well, you know, I love you and since it is our sixth month anniversary I wanted to give you something to show my affection." He opened the box and revealed an elegant pearl necklace.

Peyton covered her mouth in amazement and then looked up at Jake. "You know that you don't need to give me anything like this! This, this is way too much!"

Jake's smile seemed to falter slightly, but he recovered. "I know it may seem like a little bit over the top, but since you mean so much to me I wanted this to reflect that."

Peyton was speechless, so many thoughts were running through her mind at once and it was making it hard for her to function properly.

"Well say something," Jake said bemusedly.

"Ah, th-thank you so much," Peyton stammered.

Jake kissed her happily and the crowd that had been watching with excitement started to shout when they saw this. 'Way to go, Jake' and the usual 'Ow-Ow' calls were being screamed by various students and the music started to blare again. Everybody witnessing the scene soon broke up into small groups and started to speak amongst themselves.

Peyton finally broke from the kiss and smiled at Jake, "Really, thanks Jake."

"No problem, honey." He said soothingly as he held her hands.

Out of the corner of Peyton's eye, she saw the blue-eyed blonde that held her heart without knowing it. As rapidly as happiness consumed her it was gone and guilt and heartache soon invaded.

Lucas was standing next to Brooke, he had a pained expression on his face, but that was soon covered when Brooke whispered something in his ear. Jealousy veered its ugly head now and Peyton definitely couldn't handle the scene. She turned her gaze back onto Jake and smiled, "You wanna get out of here soon?"

Jake looked at her with worry, "Is everything all right, Peyton?"

"Yeah," she said with a smile, "I just wanna have some alone time with you tonight. We've been preparing this thing the whole day so we really never got to spend much time together."

Jake nodded, "I understand, but we've only been here an hour and a half so we're going to have to wait a little while longer since this party is for us."

Peyton smiled and nodded trying to cover up her disappointment, "Okay."

"All right, well I promised Nathan and the team that I would finish telling him that blonde joke before you came over here." Jake said as he brushed a stray curl off of her face, "So are you cool with making the rounds alone?"

"Yeah," Peyton said softly. In truth she wanted nothing more than to escape again, but that wouldn't be able to happen since Brooke knew where to find her now if she did disappear.

Jake kissed her once more and then left her near the bar. Peyton looked around for something to do, but nothing seemed to be worthwhile or interesting for that matter. She sometimes caught herself staring at Brooke and Lucas laughing, hugging, and kissing. But what really made her curious was why did Luke look so hurt and heartbroken? He was happy with Brooke, no doubt, but why was he in pain? Nothing occurred to Peyton because she seemed to think that he was probably having a bad night and nothing more.

Peyton left the bar and headed over to Brooke, who was now in the DJ area looking through CDs. "Hey there, Brooke."

Brooke jumped up and looked over the counter. "Hey, P. Sawyer, having fun?"

Peyton nodded her head trying to convince her best friend. "Yep, I'm having loads of fun."

"Good! See I told you, you would." Brooke said with a content smile.

"Yeah, you did," Peyton said softly. "Now what are you planning on playing next?"

Brooke shook her head and smiled mischievously, "Nope, I'm not telling. It's a surprise."

"Whatever, but don't complain to me when people tell you the music sucked." Peyton joked.

"I resent that," Brooke said playfully.

"You should," Lucas said coming up from behind Peyton, "because your taste of music bites."

Peyton turned towards him with shock written all over her face. "Here," he handed her a wrapped present, "happy anniversary." His face was emotionless and subtle, but the way he said it made Peyton curious.

"Thanks," she said covering up her discomfort and when she reached out to grab the present, their hands brushed one another. Immediately, it felt like Peyton was chilled but hot at the same time for their first physical contact in a long time. She felt light-headed and breathless all at once and it was hard to keep her composure.

She looked up into Lucas' soft, majestic blue eyes and she saw something alive in them something that hadn't been there for a long time. Why did he make her melt so easily especially when she was supposed to have those feelings for Jake and not for Lucas, not him.

Peyton slowly took the box from Lucas finally and hopefully Brooke didn't notice their lingering stare. "Thanks," she said breathlessly still gazing into the alluring blue eyes trying to break but she didn't have the will to.

"Anytime, Peyt." He whispered, a small smile crept up on his easy face. His eyes darted from her abruptly and immediately they went from their lively state to a saddened expression.

Peyton turned to see Jake coming up behind her with a jovial smile on his face. He wrapped his arm around her waste and smiled happily down at her, "Hey there."

She smiled up at him, "Hey Jake."

Jake looked down at the gift in her hands, "Who gave you this?"

Peyton looked down at it too, as though she didn't even notice it was there. "Oh! Luke," she pointed to the blonde, "gave it to us."

Jake beamed at Lucas, "Thanks man, it means a lot."

Lucas smiled at his friend and teammate, "No problem, man." As soon as he finished, he turned and disappeared into the crowd.

Everyone else around the group would've thought that Lucas had made his polite condolences and nothing more than that, but Peyton heard a tinge of somber in Lucas' tone and his eyes which were illuminated before were a dangerous dark blue.

Jake bent down slightly and whispered in Peyton's ear, "You wanna get out of here?"

"Ugh, yeah. The party seems to be dying down somewhat." Peyton said looking around at the club for Luke.

"Okay, let's tell Brooke we're out of here."

Peyton nodded her head, but didn't speak. She would rather just go out discreetly and avoid everyone's watchful eye follow them out. Really though, Peyton didn't want iLuke/i to see her out, she couldn't bear the pain it caused to see him watch on holding Brooke by his side. Even though she didn't want this, she wasn't going to stop Jake from doing it, for some strange reason, she liked torturing herself and wallowing in her emptiness.

Jake led her over to the DJ booth Brooke was still working at. "Brooke," Jake said leaning over the counter, "we're going to head out."

Brooke looked a little disappointed, "You all just got here like an hour ago!"

"Try two hours and a half ago," Peyton said looking at her watch, "and besides, I would've stayed a little bit longer if you weren't killing me with the crappy music you've been playing."

Brooke feigned wiping a tear away, which made Peyton laugh, "Whatever, but I'm going to announce y'all are leaving since everyone can give you one last cheer."

"Fine, just don't make them shout in unison again," Peyton said sarcastically.

Brooke smiled genuinely, "Okay best friend." She looked around for the microphone she had been using earlier. When she finally found it she composed herself quickly, "Okay everyone, the lovebirds are heading out so give them one last rally!"

Cheers erupted from all over the club. People were holding up their drinks, others were patting them on the backs as they passed, and some were throwing confetti up in the air as they made their way through the crowd. Peyton couldn't help but laugh because the scene was actually kind of hysterical because they were treating them like a married couple.

Jake and Peyton finally made their way through the overbearing and rowdy crowd and emerged near the front exit. "We love you guys!" Brooke said one last time as they turned around to wave at her. Peyton was in mid-wave when she saw Lucas in the booth next to Brooke but he wasn't acting like everyone else. Instead, he was just standing their solemnly with his hands in his pockets, staring at her with a piercing gaze.

Jake turned towards her and grabbed her other hand and she regained poise, breaking her gaze off of the broody basketball star, and pulled her out of Tric, away from Lucas unknowingly.

Author's Notes:

Goodness gracious, that was a long one to write! Well, I don't have much to say other than please, please, please tell me what you think. I'm a little unsure about that chapter, so convince me otherwise! Thanks so much for reading; I can't tell you how I'm grateful that you do. You all are freaking awesome and I'm so lucky to have readers like you guys. 


	3. It Doesn't Change

Thanks for all the awesome reviews! I'm so exhilarated that you all like it so far and hopefully you all still like it after this chapter.

Chapter Three: It doesn't change

Chapter Note: Chapter title inspired by Susie Suh's "All I Want."

Weeks had passed by like water slipping through your fingers. Days seemed like hours and well hours seemed like minutes. The pain of his unfaithfulness to his heart was finally starting to wear him down. When he even looked at Peyton, his whole body just ached and his breath was caught short. Then, when he looked at Brooke, he felt deceitful and guilty and sometimes even depressed. He was torn to what was right and good; Lucas had forgotten to why he even woke up in the morning. Thank God for a routine, though. Without basketball or school Luke wouldn't have even crawled out of bed each day.

Lucas, like many mornings since the party, got out of bed and plopped into his computer chair. He was tempting himself each time he sat there in front of the screen. He easily could go to her site and see her on her webcam. But he shouldn't. Though, no one would know… Not Peyton, definitely not Brooke, nor anyone else for that matter. Lucas, who usually chose the noble thing to do, but in this case, he couldn't resist temptation this time.

Luke clicked on the shortcut to Peyton's webcam, which was B.A. (Broody Artist), and the screen almost immediately came up. Seeing as it was rather early in the morning and the sun had just risen, Lucas deduced that Peyton must still be sleeping since nothing was moving in her room. With each passing second, Lucas became more and more jumpy with all sorts of consequences and problems he could face with looking at his girlfriend's best friend's web cam.

Cold sweat soon made its chilling way to the surface of his skin causing Lucas to shake slightly. But as quickly as it came, it went because right at that moment, Peyton woke up. A warm and cozy feeling came over him as if a blanket had been wrapped around his shoulders. She was so beautiful then; even though she didn't wear a lot of make-up, she looked so elegant and graceful without the stuff. Luke was enthralled and entranced by her naturalness in the morning.

"Lucas!" His mom called from her bedroom.

"Coming," Lucas yelled back, closing the window to his heart's secret desire.

He walked out of his room and down the hall a short ways to his mom's room. She was still in bed and she looked terrible. "Mom, are you alright because you don't look so hot?"

His mom laughed, "No Luke, I'm alright. I think I'm coming down with something."

"Do you want me to call and make a doctor's appointment for you?" Lucas asked pointing towards the phone on her night stand.

"No," she shook her head, "I'll just sleep it off."

Lucas nodded, "Okay well, I gotta go get ready for school, then." He said backing away towards the door, "You don't need me to cover for you at the café, d'you?"

"Ah no, I'll just ask Deb if she'll be able to." His mom said blowing her nose.

"Well, okay," he said pausing in the doorframe, "I love you."

"Love you, too," Karen said as she rolled over on her side.

Lucas walked down the hall back to his room to his small, quaint bathroom. He started the water faucet to his shower and cold water poured down. He looked at the clock next to his bed, 7:50. At this rate he was going to be late to school which started at eight o'clock.

"Crap," Lucas exclaimed as he started to tear his clothes off and jump into the freezing shower. "Well this isn't much better!"

He hopped out of the shower five minutes later shivering, but satisfied that he could shave a few minutes off of his tardiness. Luke quickly walked over to his closet and grabbed the first shirt he saw, which was a black t-shirt, and then strode over to his dresser and pulled out a pair of blue jeans. He put his clothes on happy to see that he was matching and then slipped his tennis shoes on hastily. Lucas glanced back at his clock, 7:58, he was definitely going to be late.

"Well, this is only my first tardy so maybe Mr. Roberts will let it slide by." Lucas whispered to himself as he picked his keys up off his night stand.

He went out his bedroom door and jogged over to his truck and got in. Luke quickly sped down the residential streets not bothering to follow the speed limit, but luckily cops didn't usually patrol this time. Finally he made the last turn and Tree Hill High came into view; a second later, Lucas pulled wildly into the school parking lot and parked next to Brooke's baby blue Bug.

Lucas grabbed his books, which were thrown all over his front seat and got out of his truck. He was sweating lightly from his haste in getting to school at a decent time and consciously he told himself to 'play it cool' now.

He was just out of the parking lot when he heard someone crying. Lucas stopped and looked around for the person who was crying. He started to walk in the general direction of the crying and to his disbelief it was the one person he didn't expect to see crying in a school parking lot, ever.

"Peyton?" Lucas asked quietly; he was afraid if he said it any louder she would run away.

She jumped slightly in fright and wiped under her eyes quickly before she turned around and looked at him.

Lucas eased closer towards her side of the car and felt his heart plummet slowly. "Peyton, are you alright?" He asked tenderly.

She laughed, "Yeah, fine," she said testily.

"You don't seem 'fine,' Peyton," he inched his way even closer. "Actually, you seem really, really broken."

Peyton looked up at him as if he had just touched a nerve. "Like you would know, right?"

Lucas hesitated, but regained his composure. "Let's not do that, Peyton."

"Do what, Luke? Share each other's deepest, darkest secrets? Good idea." Peyton snapped as she hastily got out of her black convertible and started to stalk towards the school.

Lucas had to jog to catch up to her. "Peyton," he said grabbing her wrist and stopping her, "I meant to say, let's not build walls between us."

Peyton just looked at him with an expression she wore only once, when she saw Brooke enter his room the night Nathan collapsed. Shock, hurt, and confusion all mixed into one piercing gaze.

She finally came to and cleared her throat and looked down at her beaten converse. "What do you mean by that?"

So many things popped in his head, many of them were saying exactly what his heart wanted him to say, an adulterous relationship, but he couldn't do that to Brooke, again. Lucas picked the most platonic one instead, purely friends.

"Well… I guess we could actually be friends again, you know?" Lucas said in a very soft tone, looking at the cement.

Peyton quickly glanced up at him, "Right," a very awkward silence fell between them, "but how would that work out?"

"Um, maybe sometimes I say 'Hey, you wanna hang out tonight?' and then you say-"

She laughed, "Like that will happen."

"Why do you say that?" Lucas asked finally looking at her properly.

"Well we are kinda of seeing people and remember the time when you hang out with my dad and I, Brooke went ballistic on both of us." Peyton said clenching her knap sack's strap tightly.

Lucas nodded and let out a huff, "Right."

Peyton looked around and then back at Lucas. "You know what? Let's just forget about this whole friend innuendo and keep things the way they are." She turned on her heal and started to walk away again.

His heart beat started to race; his hands began to tremble so he balled them into fists by his side. "Peyton," he called in a raspy sort of voice. She turned, irritation starting to succumb her. "Can't things ever be okay between us and never have to worry about everyone else thinks? You have a life too, you know."

Peyton just stood there, nothing came from her lips and no signs escaped their guarded heart.

Lucas though, slowly walked over to her. "Please Peyton; can't we at least be friends?"

It looked like an internal battle was taking place inside her. She looked down at the pavement and then back up at Lucas with a serious look on her face. "Fine."

Luke smiled brightly and then nodded, "Alright."

He was just about to walk away when Peyton stopped him. "But Lucas, let's just keep this under wraps right now."

Lucas' smile didn't falter; he was hoping that that's how their friendship would be. He didn't want Brooke getting overzealous with their new found friendship or Jake smelling trouble. Luke just wanted to finally have Peyton trust again; it had been so long since she had and this seemed like the next step to that actually happening.

She still seemed very uneasy around him, even months after he broke her heart unwillingly. Ever since then, she had pushed him away so far away that he felt like they were miles apart when they were only a few feet away from each other. This was the next step, the step that was going to mend their tattered relationship in the first place.

He only hoped that guilt wouldn't get in the way like last time. But what would make them guilty? If nothing physical ever happened between them and they catered to only a platonic friendship nothing will happen. Lucas was only thinking with his head, selfishly too, but he couldn't think with his heart, especially dealing with Peyton because he was risking his cover becoming friends with her. She wouldn't understand his deeper feelings for her, not if he's hiding with Brooke again.

"Peyton's in love with Jake," Lucas whispered to himself as he turned the last corner on to the English hall.

His heart broke thinking of it… Little did he know, Peyton was thinking and calculating the same things he was and coming out with the same result, a broken heart desperate for truth and completeness.

Author Notes:

Umm... well, I wasn't a big fan of this chapter, at all. Please tell me your honest opinions of this chapter (I don't care if you flame me even). Thanks so much for reading and taking the time out of your day to, I really do appreciate it. Thanks again.

Caley


	4. Like the First Time

Chapter Four: Like the first time again

Chapter Note: Chapter title was inspired by Stereophonic's "Feel."

After the rather awkward but very worthwhile "platonic" friends chat with Lucas the other day, Peyton felt an extra spring in his step, whether she'd like to admit it or not, but it was there. She didn't understand the connection she had with the jagged blonde; she sometimes just analyzed it on sleepless nights and it always seemed to intensify her hidden feelings for him. Peyton was afraid that someday that the bearings holding them back would be broken through and everything would come pouring out. She couldn't take a chance on that, but for some estrange reason she accepted his offer to just be platonic friends. Maybe it was for the fact that she clandestinely longed to just hear his soothing voice or take a glance at the beauty of his soft blue eyes.

Guilt started to come into her system overcoming the butterflies and anxiety. Why? Because the night before Lucas caught her crying in her car and brought up his idea of becoming friends was the night everything came pouring out only it was to her long boyfriend and confidante, Jake. He had come home from his parents' house in a bad mood and she was in the line of fire. Their attitudes collided and they started yelling at each other for no reason. And then, Peyton idiotically slipped the words, "Well guess what! I'm not in love with you anymore!" That's when everything came crashing down, at least her cover did. Jake, of course, took her words to heart and walked out after saying, "Then what's the point of being together?" Peyton didn't tell anyone that she and Jake were through yet and she wasn't planning on it anytime soon.

Right at this moment, she was driving the record store to meet up with him for their first "just friends" hang out and she was a wreck. Nerves were causing her heart to beat rapidly and even made her second guess this attempt.

"This is so stupid," she said to herself as she pushed her new iDon't Believe The Truth/i CD by Oasis into her CD player. The song "Let There Be Love" started to seep through the speakers.

"Perfect; just what I needed." Peyton said sarcastically running her free hand through her hair, but she didn't bother to change the song.

She mindless watched the road as just listened to the mellow, but very powerful song. Without even knowing it, she arrived at the store a minute later just as the song was ending. Peyton got out of her car and saw that Lucas' truck was parked just a few spots down from hers. Seeing that he must already be in the store, Peyton took a deep breath before she went into the store.

The record store was playing a alternative rock song on low and the lights weren't turned on bright. iThe perfect atmosphere for buying music/i, Peyton thought to herself on many occasions. This was where she bought all of her CDs, vinyl, and even some unknown band tees so basically, she was a regular and known by name.

She looked around the store and spotted Lucas near the back. Peyton took one last deep breath to cage up all of her worries and to gain courage. It helped somewhat and she headed back there.

"Hey," Peyton said as she stood right by Lucas and started looking through the CDs aimlessly.

Lucas stopped searching and looked over at her. "Hey there, Peyton."

Curiosity getting the better of her, she quickly glanced a look at Lucas. "Ugh, what were you looking for?"

His goofy smile set its place on his lips, "Oh, just looking for some of the pioneer punk."

"Which bands did you have in mind?" Peyton asked as she started looking back through the legendary bands with direction this time.

He started to thumb his way through the CDs again. "I'm not sure; have any good ones you want to hint towards?"

Peyton smiled, "You're sad, but I'll help you're music handicap. Try The Clash and the Sex Pistols are my personal favorites."

Lucas nodded slightly, "Mmh, okay."

Peyton then headed towards the alternative section of the store and started to search for The Zutons. So far, nothing was awkward or weird for her hanging out with Lucas. Maybe that was because she was comfortable in this place or because of the particular song playing or maybe because of his goofy smile, she didn't know. The only thing that was actually coming out readable was comfort.

She saw Lucas walk over towards her a couple of minutes later. He leaned back against the rack and just stared at her.

"If I didn't know better, I would think you're staring at me, Luke." Peyton said as she kept looking for The Zutons.

Her comment seemed to get Lucas to snap out his stare. "Oh, sorry."

She took the chance to take a quick peek. Lucas was blushing slightly and looking in another direction, probably too embarrassed to look over at her for the time being. When he started to look back over in her general direction, Peyton pretended to keep searching for the Who Killed The Zutons CD.

A few seconds later, she found it. "Score!" Peyton exclaimed out loud as she pulled it out of the rack.

"What? What did you find?" Lucas asked laughing.

Peyton turned towards him, her eyes glued to the CD, "I found The Zutons."

Lucas now started to just purely laugh.

"What?" Peyton asked curiously.

"If I knew you wanted the CD, I could've lent it to you." Lucas said smiling as he looked up at the ceiling.

Peyton just stared at him. "You have Who Killed The Zutons?"

Luke only nodded, his smile still in place.

"Fine, I'll get it in vinyl." She said flatly as she set the CD back down and walked past him.

"What? Are you trying to outdo me or something?" Lucas teased as he followed behind her.

Peyton smiled, "No, not exactly."

"Uh-huh!" Lucas joked suddenly coming to a halt and crossing his arms.

"Whatever, I just want it in vinyl now." She said as she finally made it to the vinyl section of the store.

She searched through the Z section and finally found the record. Peyton turned around excitedly almost running into Lucas.

"Whoa! Sorry, about that, Peyt." Lucas said finding his balance after he took a step back.

Peyton felt her cheeks start to burn with embarrassment. "Nah, it was my fault. I didn't know you were right there. I should be more aware."

Lucas bent down to pick up the CD he dropped when he avoided the collision. It was Never Mind the Bullocks Here's the Sex Pistols her favorite CD by the Sex Pistols.

"Good choice," she said as she nodded at the CD in his hand.

He smiled, "Yeah, well I heard of some of the songs on it, I just didn't know who they were by."

"Well now you know," Peyton said shakily. For some strange reason she felt a little uneasy now. Maybe it was because their odd connection with music, art, and just general understanding for each other. Who knows, it was just starting to overcome her. "Um, do you wanna pay and get out of here and go somewhere else?"

"Um, yeah sure." Lucas said. She could tell that concern was starting to envelope his eyes.

Peyton knew he was going to ask 'what was wrong' so she didn't wait for him to ask it. "I'm fine," she said flatly as she made her way up the aisle towards the cash register.

"What?" Lucas asked taken aback, following on her heels.

"Never mind," Peyton said as she slid the record on to the counter for the worker to check.

"Hey Peyton," Zeake said as he tallied up the amount. "You're already back? I thought that your last stop a few days ago would last you at least a week."

"Yeah, well let's say that I'm here hanging out." Peyton answered as she swung her purse on to the counter and looked through it for her wallet.

Zeake smiled, "Oh, so he's you're boyfriend?" Peyton shot up and looked at Zeake, who was pointing at Lucas.

"No, I'm not her boyfriend," Lucas said; his hands deep in his pockets.

The tone he used caught Peyton's attention. She stared at him, trying to find a reason for his unusual sullen attitude right when it came to a deeper relationship or connection. The words tore at her soul and heart, but that didn't reflect on her face.

"Oh, sorry man; didn't mean to pry." Zeake said apologetically as he bagged the vinyl record. "$13.54, Peyton," he said handing the bag to her.

Peyton snatched the bag and gave Zeake $14.00. "Keep the change."

She didn't wait for Lucas to pay; she just stormed out of the store and hopped in her car. A second later, Luke emerged from the store and jogged towards her.

"Peyton!" Lucas said as he stopped right next to her as she fiddled with her keys. "Peyton, what's wrong?"

Peyton stopped trying to find her car key and just stared at her wheel. "Nothing."

"D'you really think I'm going to believe that, Peyt?" Lucas asked softly.

His tender voice tempted her to glance up at him. Luke's gentle expression was captivating. So much emotion was being pent up in his eyes alone. His eyes.

"Huh, Peyton? I'm not going to let that excuse slide by." Lucas pressed on as he knelt down to get eye level with her.

Her heart started to ache badly and her hands began to tremble. Peyton broke from his mesmerizing eyes and down at her lap. Tears started to cloud her vision, threatening to fall.

"Hey," Lucas whispered gently, soothingly. He slowly opened her car door and inched closer to her until they were only a couple inches apart from each other.

She couldn't hold them back any longer, so the tears of sadness and confusion rolled down her cheeks slowly. Lucas wrapped his arms around her and she felt close to completeness.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here, Peyt." Lucas would whisper hoarsely every now and then as she continued to cry.

A few minutes of just crying her overwhelming emotions out, Peyton had cried as much as she could even though the pain inside still was devastating, tears couldn't express it anymore. She pulled back slowly from Lucas' secure and gentle embrace that supported her entirely and wiped the last stray tears away.

She sensed that Lucas' piercing gaze bore into her and the feeling was awe-inspiring. Peyton, out of embarrassment, couldn't bring herself to look at Lucas. She had let herself become weak, vulnerable, and exposed; Peyton didn't like the feeling. But temptation was more overbearing than humiliation so she sneaked a glance out of the corner of his eye.

His face was contorted with concern and his eyes were dimmer than she had ever seen them.

Peyton looked away and back down at her lap. She couldn't believe that she could cause so many sentiments on someone else especially Lucas.

Lucas cleared his throat, "Ugh, Peyton are you okay? If you're not, you know I'm here and I'll listen if you wanna talk about it."

She nodded solemnly, "Yeah, I know." Peyton, in vain, tried to smile. "But right now, I-I just need to be alone."

"Okay, I understand," Lucas whispered softly still not taking his eyes off her and she could still feel the piercing gaze.

Peyton fiddled through her keys again and found her car key and put it in the ignition and started her car. Lucas still didn't move away from the car so she could close her door.

"Peyton," he said louder than he intended and paused to recover his bearings. "You-you," he shook his head, "this isn't going to hurt our friendship is it?"

She looked at her wheel instead of looking at him. "Oh no, no it's not. Never," she said as she shook her head for an extra emphasis before looking at him.

He smiled happily and then stood, closed the door, and just watched her pull out of the parking space and drive down the street.

Peyton remembered the scene perfectly later that night sitting in front of her webcam as she drew the emotional and remarkable panorama carefully. When she finished she just stared at it, as if reliving the few breathtaking moments. She looked up at herself on her site and knew he was watching her because of that certain feeling in her heart when he did and it was there that moment. A small, delicate smile set on her lips and held it for a moment before shutting the webcam off, cutting Lucas off from looking at her masterpiece—their masterpiece.

Wowza, that chapter just poured out from me! Lol! It came out fluently and I didn't hit a wall once in that chapter. Hopefully I'll have better luck more often. Well, thanks so much for all of the support and compliments; I'm very grateful, really. I hope you all liked this chapter; it was more of a bonding chapter and applying the foundation before the good stuff happens (which I'm sure you all are thirsting for)! Please tell me your thoughts, opinions, ideas, whatever just tell me! I love reading, seeing, examining everything you write to me. Thanks so much for reading and I you stay around for the next chapter.


	5. What A Feeling In My Soul

Chapter Five: What a feeling in my soul

Chapter Note: Like practically all the chapters prior to this one, the chapter title was inspired by a song, which so happened to be "Brighter Than Sunshine" by Aqualung.

Many days had passed since the overwhelming "just friends" hangout session between Lucas and Peyton. Neither of them brought up the incident with anyone else, they both seemed to quietly agree that no one should know about it since their friends and classmates would suspect a budding relationship to arise no matter what she and Lucas' intentions were. Plus, it was nobody's business but theirs.

"Confusion" by the Zutons sifted throughout her room and it seemed to complement her sketches perfectly. After all, she had to admit that she was a confused person in so many aspects, moreover with love and companionship. Not too many people would understand that, but really those few could look at her and see the emotionally tattered her, not just the guarded Peyton which actually made her feel normal rather than suffocated for some reason.

During school, Peyton and Lucas would cross paths every now and then. Sometimes they would find each other in the most unlikeliest of spots that would bring back their memories of their not-so-secret love affair. Like at the Library in that one aisle where Lucas told her that he needed her, which was the most exhilarating moment in her life and it also made her weak in the knees (whether she'd like to admit it or not). When they came across each other there, she was looking up Anthem by Ayn Rand and he was just walking by. It wasn't awkward, but you could feel the tension since the memory wasn't buried in either of their minds, or hearts for that matter. It ended quicker than it began because he said he had to go since Coach Whitey told him to return a book for him and then he was gone.

That scene was portrayed perfectly, in Peyton's eyes, as her newest and freshest sketch. There she was again sitting in front of her computer drawing away totally oblivious to anyone entering her house let alone her room either.

"P. Sawyer!" Brooke squealed as she jumped in her room.

Peyton jumped up in fright, "For crying out loud, Brooke!" She said as she put her hand over her heart and then became aware of the drawing on her lap which depicted her very secretive feelings of her best friend's boyfriend.

Brooke giggled as she plopped herself on to Peyton's bed and then rolled over onto her side and looked at Peyton. "Sorry Peyt, I just wanted to see the look on your face if I did it."

"Are you a jackass or something?" Peyton asked still a little shaken as she slowly slid the sketch face down into her drawer.

"That depends," Brooke said smiling, "do you think I am?"

"I don't think you want me to answer that." Peyton said laughing softly as she got up from her comfy computer chair and plopped herself down next to Brooke.

In response to Peyton's reply Brooke laughed some more. "I love you Peyt!"

"So," Peyton began after Brooke calmed down, "what's up?"

Brooke seemed to get even more giddy after Peyton reminded her of why she was over here. "Well since we're both dating, how about we double date?"

Once she heard the words "double date" Peyton's content mood lowered significantly. She hadn't told Brooke that she and Jake broke it off, Lucas was the only person who knew but she wasn't about to tell that to Brooke.

Nervously Peyton began to wring her hands. "Ah, Jake and I-"

"No way!" Brooke said sitting up and turning to face Peyton fully. "You cannot tell me that you and Jake are through because you both were perfect for each other, seriously."

"Well, ugh," Peyton smiled uncomfortably, "that may have seemed so from the outside."

"Then, why?" Brooke looked beyond shocked and confused.

This time Peyton couldn't find her voice to answer her question right away. "I just didn't feel the same about him than when the relationship began and he didn't deserve that so…"

Brooke didn't say anything, she just stared at Peyton as if she had a third eyeball. Finally she snapped out if it and she seemed to be even more confused.

"So wait, you didn't love Jake anymore- is that it?" Brooke asked with her brows furrowed in thought.

Peyton nodded, she wasn't up for talking about the painful memory. Yes, she didn't love Jake anymore, but she didn't want their relationship to have ended in the heat of a fight. It hurt her more that way than her guilty conscious of loving her best friend's boyfriend for the second time.

"Oh Peyton," Brooke said softly, Peyton guessed Brooke could see the pain on her face.

Peyton got up off the bed and walked over to her computer chair and sat down in it. The whole fact of "reliving" the break-up was a little too overwhelming for Peyton.

"Well, since we can't double date, you wanna come along with Luke and I to the movies?" Brooke offered as she looked over at Peyton, which she could feel her best friend's eye bore onto her.

Peyton looked over at Brooke and smiled softly, "I don't want to intrude and besides I don't want to keep you guys from having any fun." In all honesty, Peyton didn't want to see Brooke and Lucas make-out right in front of her; that would be more painful than anything. And then she would want to bail and Brooke would suspect something and even worse, Lucas would too.

"Nah, you won't. Besides, Lucas has been acting really weird lately. He doesn't want to screw around or even make-out! Do you think I'm losing my sex appeal?" Brooke asked. She was totally oblivious to how superficial she was sounding. Peyton was actually more intrigued with how Lucas was acting rather than Brooke's mojo.

"I doubt it, Brooke," Peyton answered with a smile on her face. "You're way too edgy and addicted to lose it, but Luke on the other hand was never that type so he's probably just feeling a little besieged."

Brooke nodded and then after a few seconds she smiled broadly. "Yeah, who am I kidding? I, Brooke Davis, would never lose that sort of thing."

Peyton laughed and then got up, "Are you sure about me tagging along on your date. After all, it's at the movies where it's dark and where you had your first make-out ever, won't you get a little turned on?"

Her best friend looked up in thought; Peyton could tell that that enticing little memory was tempting Brooke to tell Peyton she had reconsidered her invitation, which Peyton was hoping she would do. "P. Sawyer, why do you have to make me be tempted like that? You're way more important than making out with Lucas, anyway, that way is so cliché by now. I'm way more creative!"

Peyton laughed softly, she really didn't want to go because she knew she would see some PDA between them, but then Brooke was being really persistent and she didn't want Brooke to keep nagging her to go.

Even though she was feeling cornered in two aspects, Peyton finally said, "Okay," reluctantly.

Brooke clapped excitedly and squealed, "Yay! Now you go get ready, I want you to appear hot in ten minutes. Who knows, maybe you'll steal somebody's boyfriend there!" Brooke joked; if she only knew what Peyton was feeling at that moment, she would've never said that.

Peyton of course was shocked by that last off-handed comment Brooke made, but she covered her shock as she walked into her closet and looked for something to wear.

"No, no, no! I'm picking out the outfit, Peyton. Knowing you, you're going to wear one of your black rock tees and jeans."

"Precisely, it's only the movies. It's dark and no one is going to be looking at people's outfits when the movie is playing." Peyton replied as Brooke bustled into her closet.

Brooke stopped and looked at her, "Before and after the movie is over that is when people will be looking. C'mon Peyton!"

"Well you can pick something out, but that does not mean I will wear it, okay?" Peyton said grudgingly as she crossed her arms.

"Yes, I agree to that, but you have to try it on." Brooke said as she looked through Peyton's clothes.

Peyton rolled her eyes, "Whatever."

Five minutes and a mountain of mislaid clothes later, Brooke was done picking out the outfit she want Peyton wear.

"Done," she chirped merrily placing the outfit on Peyton's bed.

Brooke had picked out everything down to the accessories. Luckily she had incorporated her worn converse, a white rocker watch, and a red rock tee, which illustrated the band Oasis. Then she matched those with a black track jacket and a blue jean skirt.

Peyton turned towards Brooke with a smile, "You know this is what I usually wear, right?"

"Oh yeah! I knew that, I just wanted to make you get uneasy for a few minutes." Brooke said smiling.

"Gee thanks, Brooke." Peyton said sarcastically as she grabbed the outfit and started to change.

After she had changed, Brooke got out her cell phone and called Lucas.

"Hey there boyfriend!" She greeted, suddenly jealousy flared throughout Peyton's body.

The sickening infectious Brooke saved just for Lucas echoed off her bedroom walls and Peyton felt sick to her stomach.

"Well, I just wanted to tell you that it will just be Peyton who's joining us." Brooke said smiling over at Peyton when she saw that she was already done dressing. "Yeah, well Jake flaked out, so are you going to swing by and pick us up soon?"

Peyton was really coaxed to back out of the double date minus one just because of how she was feeling already, jealous, spiteful, and about ready to be sick.

"Okay, boytoy; see you in five," Brooke said beaming with happiness, "I love you!"

This was too much to bear, Peyton felt smothered and lightheaded and she didn't like it at all. She especially didn't like it because it was her feelings toward her best friend's relationship. But she knew that if she backed out now that Brooke would inquire why and she didn't feel like lying to her, not again. Peyton just had to suck it up and deal with the overbearing anxiety and jealousy for at least two hours.

Brooke hung up the phone and was too jovial to see state Peyton was in. "You ready for the night of your life?"

"Oh yeah," Peyton began, "can't wait." Sarcasm was laced throughout the whole sentence, which Brooke decided to overlook.

The next minute there was a honk outside, Lucas had arrived.

Author's Notes:

Well, I just want to say sorry for my inexcusably late update. My apologies are extended to you all and I hope this chapter made up for it! If not, just let me know and I'll make sure the next chapter is beyond great. Lol! I just want to thank everyone who's stuck around this long, I'm grateful. Please, please, please tell me all of your thoughts about the chapter, if you can that is.

The next chapter will pick up where this left off and it will be from Lucas' point of view! I love writing from his POV so I'm really elated by that fact. Besides, it's a perfect part in the story to switch views especially since we already know what Peyton is feeling, now we can know how Lucas is doing with the fact that she's joining the date.

And again, thank you to everyone who's read my story so far, you all are awesome and I'm forever grateful. Thanks.


	6. Awkward Acquaintances

**Chapter Six: Awkward Acquaintances**

Lucas flipped through the radio stations trying to find something at least mediocre, but since the stations around Tree Hill only played crap his search was in vain. The entire day he had been on his edge because of his nervousness towards this date with Brooke. Though he was ordinarily nervous before each date, this one couldn't compare to his normal anxious self. Lucas was planning to break up with Brooke this time.

Just a few days earlier, Luke had called Brooke while he was confident in his decision and told her that he wanted to meet up with her and just talk. But seeing as Brooke thought he meant it as a date, she told him that she thought just talking was "very awkward and could get boring when you're just sitting somewhere and looking at the river." So, Lucas gave in and lost his nerve for trying to correct her in what he had meant. He didn't want her to fret or get hurt over the phone.

Then another, very disconcerting, obstacle was revealed to him as he was on his way to pick her up Brooke actually called and told him about Peyton coming along as well. As soon as he hung out Lucas automatically felt even more uneasy! He was intending on breaking up with Brooke and then fate comes and shoves his heart's desire, Peyton, into the mix as well. Uncanny!

So now, here he was parked in front of his secret adoration's fretfully switching through the radio stations looking for some source of comfort. Soon, her front door was open, emitting Brooke and then Peyton; Lucas's pulse increased and all of his troubles were wiped away.

Brooke hopped into the front seat and Peyton got in the back without a 'hello' and just sat there silently. Brooke, on the other hand, wouldn't shut up until they got to the movie theatre.

"Oh my gosh," Brooke turned around in her seat to look a Peyton. "Did you hear about that skank Heidi said about me?"

Lucas looked in his rearview mirror at the curly blonde, her expression was reflected a friend just trying to amuse her best friend's wishes. She held a smirk and raised her eyebrows up in exhausted wonder. "I don't know, Brooke. What did she say?"

Brooke just looked livid; Lucas thought when she was rehashing the petty dramatic event.

"Ha! That whore," she paused trying to keep from being overzealous, "said that I didn't know how to even have an intelligent conversation! I'm mean, I know that I can and everything, but just the thought of that girl who doesn't even know how to keep from being trash can say something as rude as that about me."

A smirk slid on Lucas' face. Yes, he knew Brooke could hold an 'intelligent conversation' but she didn't delve into one very often.

In turn Lucas looked back in the rearview mirror again to see Peyton's reaction. She seemed to act coolly and not surprised by the remark. Peyton was very laidback in the situation since she probably had one of these conversations with Brooke once a month. Even though she didn't seem to be very attentive with Brooke, she was still listening. He loved the way she listened even though she thought the subject was unbearably petty and stupid.

"Brooke, like I've said from time and time again," Peyton stopped when she saw Lucas had his blue eyes on her, causing him to blush really quickly. "You have to just ignore them because they're jealous of you."

Brooke smiled appreciatively to Peyton, "Damn right they're jealous of me!" She exclaimed obnoxiously. "I have the hottest boyfriend on campus and the angstiest yet still hot best friend." This made Brooke laugh at her own remark.

For the rest of the short drive over there silence was laid thickly on. Every now and then though, Lucas would sneak glances at Peyton wishing that she only knew what he felt and if Brooke or Jake had never gotten in the mix.

After Lucas parked the three of them walked into the red carpeted building.

"So what are we going to see?" Peyton asked, finally breaking her silence.

Lucas scratched the back of his neck as they walked up to the counter where the staff was selling the tickets. "I don't know," he said looking up at the choices.

Brooke though, began to squeal, "I know! I know! We'll see 'Must Love Dogs!'"

"No!" Lucas and Peyton said at the same time, which caused them to both blush.

"Well, why not?" Brooke asked exasperated. "That movie is best one showing right at the moment."

"Brooke, be real," Peyton said, "since when does Lucas watch romantic comedies?"

"Ha! Those are the only movies we've watched together," Brooke said smiling, feeling triumphant, "so he's watched them for going on five months now." Then she added with an off-handed air and a mischievous tone, "Well, I guess you can say haven't 'watched' them necessarily."

Lucas felt his face start to burn with embarrassment. He didn't know why Brooke had to be so suggestive and open about their hormones. Lucas favored intimacy, not an open relationship. He just wished he had the balls to break up with Brooke and not keep leading her on.

He looked over at Peyton and she seemed to be contemplating over something. "Fine," she said, "we'll go to 'Must Love Dogs.'"

Brooke clapped her hands excitedly, "Yeah, Diane Lane is one of my favorite actresses!"

Lucas huffed out loud quietly as he followed Brooke up to the box office. As they reached the counter, Lucas spoke into the metal opening.

"Ah, I'd like to get three 'Must Love Dog' tickets, please," he said reaching into his back pocket to get the money out.

"Oh, no Luke, you don't have to pay for me," Peyton said with a phony smile that was sad, embarrassed, caught off guard at the same time.

Lucas was just trying to be a gentleman; he always bought everything for Haley and Brooke when they went out to eat, saw a movie, and even went to the arcade. "My treat," he finally said softly.

She seemed tense and standoffish at the moment as she curtly nodded her head. Lucas smiled kindly at her right before he turned back to the counter and slid the $18 towards the clerk. In turn, the clerk handed Lucas the three crème-orange tickets.

He could understand why Peyton was in an awkward situation. After all, she was the third wheel on their date. It didn't bother him too much, since it would keep Brooke from coming on to him, but then the situation was just like it was a year ago when the chaotic triangle happened. She probably felt like she was intruding on their date, but she wasn't. Peyton was always a great friend so she would persecute herself instead.

"Thanks," Brooke said happily as she took the ticket from Lucas eagerly and stared at it with excitement sparkling in her eyes.

Once he handed Peyton her ticket though, she softly mumbled, "Thanks Luke."

When she grabbed the ticket though, their fingers brushed one another's. It was the first contact they had experienced since their rollercoaster 'platonic' date. The feeling sent shockwaves all throughout his body and it made him feel amazing. But he started to blush almost immediately when their eyes connected. She too was blushing and it intrigued Lucas why she was. Maybe it was because she was embarrassed about how clumsy she was or, but this wouldn't ever happen in a million years again, she liked to him too.

"Hey guys," Brooke called just a few feet away, "let's go, all the good seats will be taken by this rate."

Awoken from his thoughts, Lucas came back to reality. By the look on Peyton's expression on her face she was also stirred awake to have the real world crashing down on her.

"Yeah, we're coming," Lucas said now as he and Peyton started to walk over to Brooke, who was practically speed walking now into the theater.

Neither Lucas nor Peyton looked at each other because they felt the awkwardness and tension surrounding them. So they did their best to just stare ahead of them and not at the other. As they entered the dimly lit movie theater, Lucas had to squint to find Brooke. When he did, Lucas led the way to make a beeline towards her.

"Hey sexy," she said seductively as he took a seat next to her. "Are we, you know, going to have some bonding time tonight?"

Lucas couldn't believe his ears as Peyton crossed in front of him and Brooke to sit on the opposite side of Brooke. Why would she want to be so inconsiderate of Peyton when she was the one who invited Peyton along? And quite frankly, Lucas didn't want to 'bond' with Brooke, he wanted to 'bond' with Peyton instead. But since Lucas couldn't imagine in his wildest dreams that Peyton would ever hold the same feelings for him in return again like she had in their junior year. Even if they were adulterous feelings then, they were still genuine and passionate; perfect, in his eyes.

He whispered in Brooke's ear, "Don't you think that would be awkward in front of Peyton?"

Brooke started to crack up laughing, causing Peyton to look over at them accusingly with furrowed eyebrows, amusement far away from her intensely dark hazel eyes now.

"Peyton's practically seen me do a guy before," Brooke smiled as she leaned in towards Lucas for a kiss, "so I don't expect it to be 'awkward' for her so it shouldn't be for us."

Lucas moved his face the other way just as she was closing in on his lips. "Well, it is for me," he said coolly as he stared at the blank movie screen.

He could tell out of the corner of his eye that she was taken aback. After a couple seconds though, she slumped back against her chair and didn't say another word. Then, Lucas nonchalantly stole a quick glance over at Peyton, she looked amazed and bewildered. She must've never saw Brooke get shot down so coldly.

The movie started and for all Lucas knew about it, which wasn't much, was that it was about a divorcee whose sister puts her profile on an online dating service. But he was totally disinterested in it. He just stared blankly at the screen and thought throughout the movie.

The majority of his thoughts were centered on Peyton, like always, but this time he couldn't help but feel hopeful for the first time in seven months. If Peyton in the slightest way did have some feelings for him, Lucas knew he would feel elated. Though, Lucas felt that he was looking too far into their uncomfortable moment.

He broke his eyes from the movie and looked over at Peyton. She looked like she was enjoying the film to an extent; however she had a look of boredom on her face. Peyton wasn't big on the chick flicks more than he was himself. She was so beautiful though. Peyton was always naturally beautiful in everyway; when she cried, when she laughed, when she was enraged— each and every one of those was beautiful.

Just at that moment, Brooke looked over at him and then over at where he was staring and saw that he was staring at Peyton. She then turned to look at Lucas with confusion and unbelief in her eyes. She was dumbfounded, literally. Tears started to form in her eyes and she quickly got up and ran out of the movie theater.

"Oh crap! Brooke!" Lucas exclaimed as he then got up and pursued after her. Everything was starting to get way too out of control right now.

When he emerged from the dark theater into the bright lobby, he was blinded slightly. He saw Brooke on a wooden bench on the opposite side of the lobby with her head in her hands. He ran over there and took at seat next to her cautiously.

"You bastard," Brooke whispered as she cried on not looking at him.

Luke didn't know what to say. He was shocked that Brooke had put the missing in the puzzle so quickly and that his true feelings were found out.

"I can't believe I let you in again. Again!" She continued on wailing as she rocked herself back and forth. Her mascara was running down her face with her tears. "I should've known when I pushed aside the mixed signals and when you looked at her. You looked at her how I wanted you to look at me." The last words were shaky.

"I'm sorry," Lucas said earnestly as he scooted closer to her to comfort her but she just shoved him away.

"No! Don't touch me. I just need to be away from you." And at that Brooke just ran out of the theater altogether.

Lucas roughly ran his hands over his face and was amazed that his secret wasn't a secret any longer, at least with one person. He was afraid, hopeless, and guilty all at the same time. Not a great mix to have a burden of either. He didn't want this to be the way he and Brooke broke up because it was for sure the worst way. Lucas knew he broke her heart yet again and that she would never forgive him. The sinking feeling was overwhelming because even though Brooke wasn't his love, she was still a friend and a good one at that.

Then he saw Peyton emerge from the movie theater where the movie was stilling playing and saw him from across the lobby.

**Author's notes:**

Okay, I know have been extremely lazy on this story and I'm really sorry about that. I have so many things going on at once in my life so it's hard to update now. I wasn't too happy with this chapter, to be honest, but that's what came out of my mind and that's one of my golden rules, not forcing stories and just letting them come. I didn't want Brooke and Lucas to break up with a sweet touch because well, I don't think they would ever have a break off that would be that way so drama is the only way with them as a couple.

Just please give me some feedback if you read it! I need to know if you liked this chapter or didn't since I'm not too happy about it. So I suppose you can say this is the critical chapter that needs to be reviewed more than any other chapter. Lol. Well, I hope you all aren't too mad at me! You all rock and thank you so much with sticking by me so long.


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